Spielberg, Jack Ma in deal to make movies for China

Hong Kong

IT'S a casting director's dream. Jack Ma, China's richest man, and the highest-grossing Hollywood auteur of all time have struck a deal to work together to produce and finance films for the world's second-largest movie market.

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd is buying a stake in Amblin Partners, the production outfit backed by Steven Spielberg to work together on production, marketing and distribution both globally and in China. It's the latest in a spree of deals over the past two years intended to help US studios tap what could soon be the world's largest box office, while hopefully imparting a little of that Hollywood movie-making magic to increasingly ambitious Chinese households.

The agreement with Mr Spielberg's storied studio marks Alibaba's and Mr Ma's most comprehensive production effort to date. The company has been selective so far, preferring to invest in select films such as the latest installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, in return for an equity stake and the right to stream it across internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's various online servi…